Even if Ed Piskor's
continuing history of hip hop wasn't highly entertaining (and
informative), who could resist a Treasury Edition-sized cover of Afrika
Bambaataa in a Wally Woodesque spaceship?
With all the irreverent
enthusiasm of his Hip Hop Family Tree Vol. 1, Piskor brings his history
up to around 1983. That means the rise of Run DMC is covered, the
origins of The Beastie Boys, the beginning of beat-boxing, the beginning
of Def Jam Records... Plus, pinups by Katie Skelly, Matt Bors and more!
Piskor
crams a lot into 96 pages. Highly recommended if you're interested in
the complex and all-too-human fits and starts of a revolutionary art
form.
Author and cartoonist Ed Pisker does an admirable and passionate job
telling the complex and overlapping stories of the early days of hip
hop. He uses a classic retro art style and coloring, appropriately
reminiscent of comic books published in the late '70s when this music
was first being developed.
Although I knew most of the stories
told in the book, from much of the same sources Pisker used for his
research, he puts it all together in a fun and readable form, with the
skill of a master DJ honing in on the breakbeats. The book, the first of
a series, covers the '70s to 1981.
The large collection is
complemented by old school pinups by the likes of Tom Scioli and John
(King Kat) Porcellino. I'm looking forward to Vol. II.
